


Blame It On The Mistletoe

by TheGirlWhoWearsBlack



Series: My Christmas Jukebox [4]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Kissing, Mistletoe, Multi, One Shot, Team Bonding, office antics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-07
Updated: 2020-12-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:02:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27943460
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGirlWhoWearsBlack/pseuds/TheGirlWhoWearsBlack
Summary: Against Hotch's orders, someone is hanging mistletoe around the office. It's kissing time!
Relationships: Spencer Reid/Reader
Series: My Christmas Jukebox [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2036053
Kudos: 54





	Blame It On The Mistletoe

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Welcome to day 4 of "My Christmas Jukebox": 12 days, 12 one shots inspired by 12 of my favorite Christmas songs. I'll be posting every other day until completed as we all get in the spirit and mood for this holiday season.
> 
> Today's shot is inspired by the song "Blame It On The Mistletoe" by Kendall Schmidt.  
> Enjoy!

Friday, December 3 rd .

“Hang on, you did what?”

“I went to the movies yesterday.”

“But yesterday was Thursday.”

YN analyzed Spencer’s face trying to figure out if he was joking or not. It was not very Spencer-y from him to go out during a work-night, he would only do those sorts of things on the weekends.

Spencer did not look like he was kidding. YN hummed filled with suspicion as she laid her back on the cold metal wall of the elevator.

“Was it a date or something?”

“No, it was not.” Spencer hurried to answer. He sighed, his hands grabbed the strap of his satchel and held onto it as if his life depended on it. “There was this German movie I really wanted to see and it was a one-night projection only.”

YN nodded and giggled once she noticed how flustered her teammate got with such a simple question as that. Spencer cleared his throat on an attempt of shaking off his nervousness and then tried to switch the topic.

“Talking about movies, while I was at the theater, I saw that they are going to have t _ he Polar Express _ from the 18 th to the 20 th ”

“I love  _ the Polar Express, _ it is a Christmas classic.” YN cheered. She had a big smile on her face only from thinking about watching the movie.

“I know. That’s why I was wondering if maybe you’d like to go watch it with me-”

Just as Spencer said the last two words, the elevator opened at the sixth floor. YN’s attention went from him towards the glass doors from the BAU where Penelope was hanging sparkly garlands, trying to maintain balance on the precarious ladder while wearing high heels. Prentiss and JJ were safe on the ground watching her.

“What is all of this?” YN asked and approached the rest. “I thought we weren’t allowed to decorate.”

“I convinced Hotch to let us put up a little something.” Penelope explained without looking at YN. She was too concentrated in perfectly placing the garland. “Wonder boy, you are tall. Give me a hand, please?”

Spencer was forced to momentarily forget that YN had not given him an answer regarding going together to watch  _ The Polar Express _ and pretend that everything was normal. He placed his satchel on one of the steps of the ladder and stood on the opposite side to where Penelope was. He only had to get the tip of his toes to reach the same height Penelope tried to reach by standing on the ladder.

“This is a tiny bit more than ‘a little something’.” YN said with a mix of concern and excitement.

If Penelope’s decorations were too much, she was going to be forced to take them down by Hotch, and YN knew how devastated Penelope would be if that happened.

“We told her.” JJ glanced at YN and scrunched her shoulders. “She says this is the bare minimum she can do.”

“I like them.” Prentiss approved and nodded.

“Is it looking straight?” Penelope asked.

“Yeah…”

“No, you need to go back a few steps to be able to actually tell.”

JJ, Prentiss and YN receded a couple of feet, almost hitting the elevator doors with their backs in order to make sure that the garland was straight.

“It’s a little bit droopy on the right.” YN pointed out. Penelope moved the garland slightly. “No, no. My right. Spencer’s side. Let me show you.”

She approached the guy and explained to him what was wrong. JJ also joined them as it appeared to be that it took four of the best minds in Quantico to hang a single garland. After a few adjustments, Penelope asked the same question again.

“It’s perfect.”

They were all expecting Prentiss to answer since she was the only one who still stood a few feet from them, instead, it was Anderson who did.

“Guys…” Penelope cooed, looking at Prentiss and Anderson. “Look what’s above you.”

As if she had said some sort of spell, everyone slowly turned their sights to whatever was that Penelope wanted them to see. A few cheers and whistles flew in the room when it was pointed out that the odd couple made of Emily Prentiss and Grant Anderson was standing under a mistletoe, strategically hanging from a vent over them.

“No. Not going to happen.” Prentiss jumped shaking her head.

“Wow, don’t be mean, Emily. It is tradition.” JJ teased her with a smirk. “It’s just a kiss.”

“Yeah, a kiss. But this is a professional work environment.”

“I don’t have any issues.” Anderson added playfully.

“See? Anderson doesn’t care. It’s a kiss!” YN exclaimed as calmly as possible. “A quick peck. That’s it.”

Prentiss looked around, she was probably weighting the pros and the cons of the situation. The truth was that there weren’t any substantial pros, only cons.

“Nope.”

“Emily!” Penelope cried like a little kid. “Please. The rules are that if a couple stands under the mistletoe, they have to kiss.”

“We are not a couple.” Prentiss reminded her friends.

“You can’t say no to a kiss under the mistletoe.” Spencer argued in favor of the majority.

“Oh! So, if it was you under the mistletoe with a random person you would kiss them?”

“I mean, I don’t see why not. It’s tradition.”

Prentiss half-closed her eyes and shook her head. “Oh really? You better stand by that if you find yourself in the same situation, Dr. Reid.”

“I will.”

Not another word came from anyone as Prentiss grabbed Anderson by his shoulders and pulled him closer to her. At first, they stood still, making it awkward for those watching and involved in the kiss. However, it suddenly gained rhythm and steam.

“Guys!” JJ called them, but they didn’t stop.

“Oh my God.” YN whispered loud enough for Spencer to hear. “This is really happening.”

“It is.” He answered with a tin of discomfort. “They are going for it.”

“They are.” Penelope reassured.

Just as Anderson was about to grab Prentiss’s butt, the elevator doors opened and Aaron Hotchner stepped out of it.

“What is the meaning of this?”

The faces of all of the involved went bleak in a matter of seconds. Prentiss and Anderson pushed each other as further away as possible.

“Nothing sir.” Prentiss dared to respond.

“This is a workplace, agents. The Bureau does not condemn this type of behavior.” Hotch went on. He usually had a straight face, difficult to read. But this time, it was a no brainer that he was mad. “What were you thinking?”

The mood went from playful and naughty to simply dreary and tense. Even the ones who were not kissing felt the need to hide their faces.

“They were standing under the mistletoe, sir.” Penelope explained. “It’s tradition to kiss.”

Hotch looked up and saw the few branches with green bright leaves and white berries over his head. He reached for it and took it down.

“Penelope, you cannot hang mistletoe in the one place everyone stands with other people to wait for the elevator. I said a few Christmas decorations only. If this is going to happen, then you might as well take them all off.” Their boss complained with annoyance. “And you should not be snogging like that at the office at all.”

Prentiss and Anderson had their heads down. The rest stood there awkwardly waiting for the nagging to end. It was more than obvious that the group were only having fun, no harm was actually done. They were trying to lift the spirits for the holidays. Hotch sighed when he saw the disappointment in everyone’s eyes.

“I will not reprimand anyone and you may keep the decorations. I hope this doesn’t happen again. Please go to work.”

Tuesday, December 8 th .

“What are you doing, my bright starshine?”

“I’m trying to find the perfect gift for Tom.”

“Ooh” Penelope teased YN as she sat at the edge of the desk. “Who’s Tom?”

“He’s one of my high school friends. He recently moved here and he has no family in the city so I want to make his Christmas decent, thus, I need to find the perfect gift.”

“Is there another reason you care so much about this Tom?”

“If you’re suggesting that I like him or something, you’re wrong.”

Penelope rolled her eyes and scoffed. YN laughed for a moment at her friend’s reaction. Penelope had tried to set YN up multiple times but never succeeded in finding her a perfect match.

“YN?”

“What’s up, Reid?”

Spencer swallowed nervously. He had been trying to ask YN out to watch a movie for the longest time and when he finally dared to do it, she did not give him an answer. He wanted to believe that the reason behind it was that YN got distracted by Penelope’s Christmas decorations. Whatever the case was, he wanted to give it a go again to finally get a concrete answer.

It was hard to get YN alone, she seemed to be always surrounded by people. It made Spencer nervous that Penelope was also there, though it was better to have her than having Morgan or Hotch around. Plus, she appeared to be more focused on her bracelets than anything else.

It took him a while to calm his nerves. YN looking right into his eyes wasn’t helping either. He needed to get over himself and just ask her the damn question. It wasn’t a big deal. Right?

“It-it came to my attention that you never really gave me an answer regarding going to watch The Polar Express together-”

“Oh my Jesus!” Penelope squealed and grabbed YN’s forearm.

“What?”

Once again, YN got distracted and did not answer Spencer’s question. He felt a knot forming in his stomach as the idea that maybe the reason he didn’t get an answer was because YN was dodging giving him one.

“Look.”

Penelope pointed at the kitchen area where JJ and Rossi stood while pouring themselves a cup of coffee.

“What?” YN asked once more, not finding anything unusual about two people serving coffee.

“Come with me.”

Penelope grabbed YN’s hand and dragged her through the bullpen towards the kitchen. It was only then that YN realized that there was a branch of mistletoe hanging over JJ and Rossi.

“You!” Penelope yelled at them. “Have you realized, my children, where are you standing?”

Both JJ and Rossi exchanged glances, they looked just as confused as YN was seconds ago.

“Mistletoe. You two are standing under the mistletoe.” Penelope explained. “You know what that means, right?”

“We do, but that doesn’t mean that…”

“Eh!” Prentiss interrupted planting herself in the middle of the kitchen with her arms crossed over her chest. “You guys made me kiss Anderson, it’s payback time.”

“I wasn’t even there.” Rossi complained. “No offense JJ, but I am not up for this.”

“Non taken.” JJ answered and turned to her friends. “Plus, you know how Hotch feels about this whole mistletoe thing.”

“It doesn’t have to be on the mouth!”

“Penelope, if they don’t want to kiss, let them be.” YN nagged her friend. “Come on girls, let’s go.”

“Nah, I’m not moving until I see some kissing.” Prentiss insisted. “Just a small kiss on the cheek.”

Rossi rolled his eyes and placed his mug over the countertop.

“Will that make you feel pleased?”

“Yes, it will.” Prentiss nodded.

“What’s going on?” Spencer joined the small gathering as he stood behind YN. He was able to spot the mistletoe before anyone gave him an answer. “Oh, I see. Are you guys going for it?”

“Just one on the cheek to shut all of you up.” JJ gave in as she closed her eyes. She knew that if they didn’t comply, their friends would not leave them alone. She had seen firsthand how persistent and annoying they could be if they were up for it and it truly wasn’t something she wanted to put up with at nine in the morning.

Rossi leaned slightly over to reach for JJ’s cheek and as the rest observed expectantly.

“What in the name of God is happening?”

As soon as the voice of Aaron Hotchner reached their ears, everyone stepped back and flinched at the surprise.

“Rossi, I cannot believe you are part of this too.”

“Aaron, it was only a kiss on the cheek to make the kids happy and bring some Christmas fun.” Rossi explained himself as he walked towards the unit chief. “It’s…”

“Tradition, yes. Not in the office.” Hotch said sternly. “Garcia, I thought I told you to remove every single mistletoe. Why didn’t you follow orders?”

“But I did, sir.” Penelope hurried to answer. “I took them all down, I have no idea who put this one here in the kitchen.”

“Garcia…”

“I swear on my unicorn pen.”

“Prentiss, Reid, YLN?” Hotch addressed the remaining team members who simply shook their heads and hid behind anything that they could find. The boss sighed attempting to keep his cool as much as he could considering how his employees were behaving lately. He snatched the mistletoe from the cabinets where it was hanging and turned to face every single one of the team members. “Let this be the last time I have to deal with mistletoe and kissing at the office. If I see as much as one more of these scenes, there will be consequences. Am I clear?”

“Yes sir.” Everyone answered in unison without meeting Hotch’s eyes.

Hotch grumbled underneath his breath and walked away in his office’s direction.

“No more mistletoe, Penelope.” Rossi stated before grabbing his cup of coffee again. “Hotch is right. It’s a pretty tradition but not office-appropriate, or whatever. Back in the day, an innocent kiss wouldn’t have mattered, but who am I to say otherwise? ”

“That’s right sir, only that I truly did not hang the mistletoe this time.” Penelope insisted.

“Then who did?” Prentiss expressed as all of them had the same confused grimace in their faces.

Wednesday, December 16 th .

“There you are. I’ve been looking for you all day.” Spencer exclaimed as he entered the briefing room.

YN glanced at him momentarily to greet him with a quick smile and then went back to focus on the files she had spread across the round table.

“What are you doing working here?”

“Uhm, the girls were chatting about the Christmas party planning, I couldn’t concentrate and I have to finish this report today or else Hotch is going to kill me. Here is nice and quiet.”

“Oh, then I won’t bother you.” He said and turned around to exit the room.

“It’s not necessary, Spence, I’m almost done.”

It took longer for her to say those words than for her to sign the paper and close the file, followed by the rest of them.

“What can I do for you?” YN asked him without looking at Spencer, she was concentrated while gathering all of her papers.

“What?”

“You said you have been looking for me all day, what’s up?”

“Oh, that, yeah.”

Spencer cleared his throat and walked a few steps closer to where YN was sitting. She suddenly stood up and faced him. They were only a few centimeters away from each other. His hands were inside the pockets of his trousers as he clung to the fabric for dear life.

“So, t _ he Polar Express _ movie is going to be on theaters this weekend and-”

“Spence?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t want to scare you but, look up.”

He did as YN said and looked at what was above them. No. Freaking. Way.

Mistletoe.

His heart rushed and the palms of his hands began to sweat. Good thing they were hidden inside his pockets. He swallowed so hard he knew that YN saw his Adam’s apple move up and down.

“I didn’t put it there.”

“Of course, you didn’t.” YN responded between giggles. “I did.”

“Wha-what?”

“We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Spencer had so many questions, and though he craved to know the answers he also wanted from the bottom of his heart to not spoil the moment by being his over-critical self. This was his chance of going for it with the girl he had slowly been falling in love with for the past three years. His stomach turned at the idea that she might be against kissing him. But again, why would she? This was a kiss she practically served him on a silver platter. Why was he hesitating so damn much?

Without thinking any much further, he lowered himself to her height, took his hands out of his pockets, grabbed YN by her cheeks, pulled her closer to him and smashed his lips onto hers.

The feeling of warmth and safety invaded YN’s body as she felt Spencer’s lips over hers for the very first time. It was warm, cozy and fulfilling in a weird way. Like it was meant to be. She felt sparks fly and butterflies in her stomach just as the best kisses were described in books. YN had kissed some people before, but this one, this one felt like no other. Perhaps it was truly magical to kiss someone under the mistletoe. Perhaps it was not the plant above their heads what made it special but actually the person they were sharing the kiss with. Perhaps both.

They pulled away from the other as soon as they heard someone gasping the room. The two turned at the door to see Prentiss, Morgan, JJ and Penelope standing at the briefing room’s door frame.

“Well, well, well, look who got an early Christmas present.” Prentiss teased, making her brows dance.

“YN, we know you believe in charity, but this was just splendid on your end.” Morgan added as he stood between YN and Spencer who just froze awkwardly at the presence of their friends.

“Rude.” JJ nagged Morgan and rolled her eyes.

“I’m just kidding, blondie, don’t sweat it.”

“I did not hang the mistletoe, I swear.” Penelope squealed without being able to hide her joy from seeing two of her friends kissing because of the mistletoe.

“We know.” Spencer assured her and glimpsed at YN who simply nodded and intertwined her arm with Spencer’s.

The otherwise lighthearted, fun, mischievous mood that reigned the briefing room seconds before, turned more serious in a matter of seconds as it dawned in YN and Spencer’s teammates that there was more to the kiss than just ‘tradition’.

“What do you mean?” Morgan asked.

“About  _ The Polar Express _ …” YN ignored Morgan and addressed Spencer’s most asked question in the past couple of days. “Of course I’ll go with you. I thought it was implied.”

Spencer tried to fight it but the corners of his lips rose forming a huge smile. The rest of the BAU members exchanged glances as if doing that they would decipher what was going on with YN and Spencer. 

“Hotch’s coming.” Rossi warned everyone the second he set foot in the briefing room. His eyes went to YN and Spencer and their somehow now evident affection and then to the small branch with leaves and berries over their heads. “My, my. Charm is a product of the unexpected.”

“Jose Marti.” Spencer said with confidence.

“Indeed.” Rossi assented. “Now take that goddam mistletoe down before Hotch sees it.”

“Before Hotch sees what?” Hotch’s voice reached their ears.

“Shit.”

Song: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCrWuCfXJNg>

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!  
> Please let me know what you think <3
> 
> Remember that I'll be posting new shots every other day.  
> Have an amazing holiday season and please be safe!  
> Love, A.


End file.
